About MARELITT

MARELITT aimed at assisting EU Member States in reaching the objective of achieving ‘good environmental status’ (GES) of all EU marine waters by 2020 by reducing the impact of marine litter on the coastal and marine environment. This objective is laid out in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) (MSFD). One of the qualitative descriptors for determining GES is that ‘properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine environment’.

Over 2013, MARELITT assessed existing marine litter removal projects in Europe, identifying good practices that can be adopted by lead organisations in setting up new projects or maintaining existing ones. These good practices have been further developed into a toolkit that will be put online in March 2015.

During 2014, MARELITT has supported the initiation of four marine litter retention and one derelict fishing gear retrieval projects in Europe, one in the Baltic Sea, one in the North East Atlantic, two in the Mediterranean Sea and one in the Black Sea. MARELITT has worked with host organisations on the preparation of a business case for their project and assisted them in the prepation of regional workshops gathering potential project partners and funding bodies. More information on MARELITT can be found in the final report of the project.

On 13 - 15 May 2014, host organisations gathered in Brussels to discuss their MARELITT projects and exchange experience from past marine litter and fishing geat removal activities. The first day of the workshop concentrated on introducing the host organisations and their respective projects and presenting lessons learned and good practices from past projects. KIMO Baltic Sea and WWF Poland presented their respective experience on 'Fishing for Litter' and fishing gear retrieval. The second and third days were dedicated to the practical aspects of planning a marine litter project and further developing the business cases and the regional workshops. Read the workshop report.

The project is funded by the European Commission (DG Environment) and carried out by Milieu Ltd and its partners ARCADIS, MEGAPESCA Lda, IMARES, LEI, RSS Marine, Plymouth University, the Coastal & Marine Union (EUCC), EUCC Mediterranean Centre, the Baltic Environmental Forum and Mare Nostrum. The views expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. For more information, please contact: marinelitter@milieu.be